Overlay read-out device



Dec. 16, 1958 c. J. REUTER 2,8

OVERLAY READ-OUT DEVICE Filed Dec. 16, 1955 Iii m I, I. I I

United States Patent OVERLAY READ-OUT DEVICE Clarence J. Renter, Springfield, Ill.

Application December 16, 1955, Serial No. 553,643

3 Claims. (Cl. 12033) The present invention relates to improvements in an overlay read-out device and is more particularly concerned with the construction and assembly of a device useful for the convenient and accurate reading of tabulated data arranged in closely spaced columns and lines on record forms and the like.

The present device affords convenient means for permitting maximum usage of record forms. There is presently no device or apparatus available for accurate reading of entries that are arranged in closely spaced columns and lines on a columnar sheet as will occur when a form is printed to the maximum capacity of a business machine. Such devices as are available are satisfactory only when the lines are printed about three lines per inch but, should 7 Y they be spaced more closely together such as about six lines per inch, considerable difiiculty arises in seeking to retain a line guide or overlay film properly aligned with the lines on the sheet. This difficulty results primarily from improperly constructed means for holding and guiding a line guide particularly when the whole form depth is'employed. The present invention has for one of its objects the novel construction of the mounting for the line guide which is such that the line guide is maintained firmly in any position of adjustment.

The device embodying the present invention includes a baseboard upon which may be secured in a convenient manner a selected number of columnar forms or sheets bearing data to be read out. The sheets are arranged in a stack and a hingedly mounted line guide is laid flat over the uppermost sheet, and then moved vertically relative thereto into position to bring the desired line in register with a transparent window or clear space therein. When a different sheet in the stack is to be read, the line guide is swung upwardly away from the stack, the uppermost sheet or sheets is then folded away and the line guide then is swung down to lie flat upon the newly exposed sheet. In order for the'line guide to lie flat agaist the top sheet, irrespective of the stack thickness, the hinge mounting for the line guide is novelly constructed so as to adjust itself to the stack capacity while at the same time be held with sufficient firmness as to hold the line guide in alignment with the horizontal lines on the sheet and without wobble. This is important to successful use of the device owing primarily to the length of the line guide and the close spacing of the lines to be read. It is therefore other objects of the invention to provide a novelly constructed connection between the line guide and its mounting hinge, and a novelly constructed hinge assembly.

Another object is to provide a line guide of the character referred to with novel means to permit the easy and the quick substitution of an overlay film therein.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illus- .trated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and 2,864,337 Patented Dec. 16, 1958 minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of my invention, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment thereof, from an inspection of which, when considered in connection with the following description, my invention, its mode of construction, assembly and operation, and many of its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated.

Referring to the drawings in which the same characters of reference are employed to indicate corresponding or similar parts throughout the several figures of the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view of an overlay read-out device embodying the features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof illustrated on an enlarged scale and showing the intermediate portion broken away.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the hinge elements.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail view of the line gauge taken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of the line guide, taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 1, but omitting the hinge element.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, the apparatus includes a substantially rectangular baseboard 11 of a size substantially greater than the size of forms or record sheets 12 which are placed thereon when the device is in use. The record sheets disclosed are of a kind preferably having aseries of spaced perforations along one of their shorter edges adapting them to be bound normally within a loose-leaf binder of any conventional construction. One or more such sheets are placed upon the baseboard 11 which is provided along one of its shorter edges with a plurality of spaced upstanding posts 13 adapted to be threaded through the perforations so as to properly position the sheets on the baseboard 11. In order to insure that said sheets lie andremain flat on the baseboard and that they do not shift relative to one another, a strip 14, of metal or other suitable material having a number of perforations therein corresponding to the number of posts 13, is fitted over the posts and is adapted to rest firmly upon the uppermost sheet in a stack of sheets. This form of loose mounting of the sheets insures that'they will be retained in place at all times and also facilitates the folding back of one or more sheets in the stack so that access can be had to underlying sheets without disturbing their relative positions.

The sheets are record forms of the kind having a multiplicity of closely spaced horizontal lines and vertical columns. Such sheets are used for compiling data from record cards processed by a business machine. The sheets carry coded column headings 10 identifying data entered in said columns, such as for example, the policy number, term, premium rate, and like data pertinent to the maintenance of true and accurate records of insured persons. It is desired to use the present apparatus for facilitating of the reading-out of such data, which process often becomes very difficult owing to the almost impossible task of training the eye to locate a specific item in a line under a particular column heading.

To facilitate reading-out data on columnar sheets mounted on the baseboard, there is provided a line guide generally indicated at 15, which is adapted to lie flat over the uppermost sheet in a stack of sheets and to be moved transversely of said sheets. The line guide is mounted at one of its ends on the baseboard 11 in a manner to be movable, without misalignment, across the surface of the uppermost sheet in the stack and to be swung upwardly out of the way of said stack so that one or more of the sheets thereof may be folded over to exice pose an underlying sheet over which the line guide is then positioned. The mounting is of a type that will prevent wobble of the line guide because should there be any play in the mounting of the line guide, the free or remote end of said guide will be substantially out of register with an underlying line and consequently render the device ineffective for the purpose intended.

The mounting for the line guide includes a rail or track 16 which is mounted on the upper face of the baseboard 11 along the marginal edge remote from the edge having the posts 13 thereon. This rail is fabricated from a solid piece of square bar stock and preferably is slightly narrower at its lower or attached face than at its upper face for a purpose to become apparent presently. The rail extends the entire width of the baseboard 11.

One element 17 of a hinge structure 18 is slidably mounted on the rail 16. As shown, this hinge element is fabricated from a substantially solid rectangular block of wear-resistant material and is provided on its bottom face with a dove-tailed longitudinal channel 19 which conforms substantially to the cross-sectional configuration of the rail 16 so as to be slidable therealong. It is removable only upon sliding it oif the ends ofthe rail 16. The hinge element 17 includes a pair of spaced bosses 21 having aligned apertures to receive a pivot pin 22. A pair of upstanding ears 23 on said hinge element afford finger engaging means, by means of which the hinge element may be manually engaged and shifted longitudinally along the rail 16.

The other hinge element 24, best illustrated in Fig. 3, includes a substantially rectangular plate 25 having an integral bearing portion 26 adapted to fit between the bosses 21 and receive, through an aperture 27 therein, the pivot pin 22. The rectangular plate portion 25 of the hinge element 24 is adapted to seat firmly upon the top surface 28 of the baseboard 11 when the device is in use. This surface is offset below the top face 29 of the baseboard so that when the hinge .element 24 is in the position illustrated in Fig. 2, the top surface 31 of its plate portion 25 lies substantially in the same plane as the top face 29. Extending upwardly from and firmly secured at their lower ends in the rectangular portion 25 of the hinge element 24 are a plurality (in this instance three) guide pins 32. These pins are offset one from the other as illustrated in Fig. 3, and they constitute mounting means for connecting the hinge element 24 with the line guide 15.

Referring now to Figs. 2, 4 and 5, it will be observed that the line guide comprises a rectangular frame consisting of a pair of spaced parallel side rails 33 suitably joined together at one end by a connecting bar 34 and at their other end by a connector plate 35. Secured firmly, as by welding, to the top surface of the transverse connector plate 35 is a reinforcing plate 36. The said plate 36 and the underlying plate 35 are suitably apertured, as at 37, to receive freely therethrough the guide pins 32 on the hinge element 24. The guide pins 32 have a snug free sliding fit within the apertures 37 and, owing to the spacing between said pins and the snug fit, the guide 15 is connected to the hinge element 24 in such manner that no perceptible looseness in fit results and consequently there is no wobble between the line guide frame and its mounting. The mounting however permits the guide frame to be raised or lowered with respect to the hinge element 24 so as to accommodate it to the thickness of the stack af sheets 12 arranged on said baseboard. Such movement of the guide frame may be easily accomplished by grasping a knob 38 secured firmly to and extending upwardly to the top face of the plate 36.

The rectangular frame of the line guide has firmly secured to its bottom face a thin sheet of clear plastic material or other transparency 41. An overlay film 42 dimensioned to fit snugly within the frame is laid flat onto the top face of the transparency 41 and, because said film is very thin and may tend to buckle, it is held fiat by a clear plastic, glass, or other transparent plate 43, which is laid over the top thereof within the confines of said frame. The overlay film is substantially opaque but is provided with one or more transparent strips 44. The opaque area of the film is provided adjacent either or both edges of the transparent strip 44, with columnar headings 45-4511, one of which will correspond to the headings 10 on the columns on the sheet 12, and the other of which may be representative of a related system of columnar headings.

In use, the desired number of record sheets or forms 12 are placed upon the baseboard 11 and the line guide is swung downwardly into position flat over the uppermost sheet. The line guide then is shifted longitudinally along the rail 16 to locate the transparent strip 44 therein in register with any one of the lines on said sheet. It then becomes a simple matter to identify the indicia appearing through the clear strip 44 by reference to the columnar headings 45 on the overlay film without requiring the usual difficulty of referring to the columnar headings 10 at the extreme top of the sheet 12. Owing to the firmness of the hinge mounting on the rail and the snug fit of the guide on the hinge element pins the clear strip 44 will register with the line on the sheet throughout its length. In order to facilitate and insure proper alignment of the clear strip 44 with a particular line on the form 12, one face of the rail 16 is provided with a series of mutually spaced detents 46 which are adapted to have engaged therewith spring pressed pins, balls, or plungers 47 carried in the depending leg portion 48 of the hinge element 17.

It should be quite evident at this time that the apparatus may readily be used for reading-out material from record sheets or forms having any specific columnar headings by the simple expedient of removing the overlay film 42 and substituting for it one having columnar headings relating to the headings on the form to be read. Obviously the capacity of the form used in association with the present device can be materially increased over the capacity of forms used on other known devices.

It is believed that my invention, its mode of construction and assembly, and many of its advantages should be readily understood from the foregoing without further description, and it should also be manifest that while a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described for illustrative purposes,-the structural details are nevertheless capable of wide variation within the purview of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A device for use in reading material arranged in lines and columns on a record sheet, said device comprising a substantially rectangular base having a fiat top surface upon which said sheet rests, means adjacent to one side edge of said base for maintaining said record sheet thereon, said base having a marginal area on its top surface adjacent to the opposed side edge of said base offset downwardly in a plane parallel to the plane of said top surface, an upstanding rail on said marginal area adjacent to the said opposed side edge defining with said area an elongated recess coextensive with the rail, said rail having its side walls inclined downwardly and inwardly, a nonseparable hinge structure comprised of a pair of hingedly connected elements, one of said elements having a dovetail formation on its bottom face engaged with and slidable along the rail and a bearing portion on one edge thereof, the other of said elements being essentially a flat plate having an upstanding bearing portion complemental to the first named bearing portion and being adapted to be seated in said recess below the plane of the top surface of the base, a plurality of non-aligned upstanding pins on said last named element, and a column and line guide overlying the sheet and apertured at one end to receive said pins therethrough, said guide and hinge structure being slidable as a unit along said rail and the guide and last named hinge element being movable about the hinge pivot as a unit.

2. A device for use in reading material arranged in lines and columns on a record sheet, said device comprising a substantially rectangular base having a flat top surface upon which said sheet rests, said base having a marginal area on its top surface adjacent to one side edge of said base offset downwardly in a plane parallel to the plane of said top surface, an upstanding rail integral with said downwardly offset surface area adjacent to the said one side edge defining with said area an elongated recess coextensive with the rail, said rail having its side walls inclined downwardly and inwardly, a non-separable hinge structure comprised of a pair of hingedly connected elements, one of said elements having a dove-tail formation on its bottom face engaged with and slidable along the rail and bearing portions on one edge thereof, the other of said elements having a flat bottom surface seated in said recess and an upstanding bearing portion complemental to the bearing portion on the first named element, upstanding pins on said last named element, and a column and line guide overlying the sheet and apertured at one end to receive said pins therethrough, said guide and hinge structure being slidable as a unit along said rail and the guide and last named hinge element being movable about the hinge pivot as a unit.

3. A device for use in reading material arranged in lines and columns on a record sheet, said device comprising a substantially rectangular base having a flat top surface upon which said sheet rests, means adjacent to one side edge of said base for maintaining said record sheet thereon, said base having a marginal area on its top surface adjacent to the opposed side edge of said base offset downwardly in a plane parallel to the plane of said top surface, an upstanding rail on said marginal area adjacent to the said opposed side edge defining with said area an elongated recess in said top surface coextensive with the rail, a non-separarble hinge structure comprised of a pair of hingedly connected elements, one of said elements being formed on its bottom face to engage with and be slidable along the rail and bearing portions on one edge thereof, the other of said elements being essentially a flat plate having an upstanding bearing portion complemental to the first named bearing portion and being adapted to be seated in said recess below the plane of the top surface of the base, a plurality of upstanding pins on said last named element, and a column and line guide overlying the sheet and apertured at one end to receive said pins therethrough, said guide and hinge structure being slidable as a unit along said rail and the guide and last named hinge element being movable relative to each other and about the hinge pivot as a unit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,884,639 Fensky et a1. Oct. 25, 1932 2,115,331 Ford Apr. 26, 1938 2,176,283 Whiteford Oct. 17, 1939 2,647,765 Brechner Aug. 4, 1953 

